One mound of the material called petroleum coke, or pet coke, sits just west of the Ambassador Bridge in southwest Detroit.

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The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality anticipates that a site just east of the Ambassador Bridge will become a long-term transfer spot for petroleum coke.

The site is one of two along the Detroit River where massive mounds of the pitch-black material, a by-product of tar sands oil refining, have piled up recently.

The second site, which a DEQ official visited Thursday, is on Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority property near Clark and Jefferson in southwest Detroit. It has been described as an overflow spot for the other site. ...